We have had a few very foggy mornings here in Houston – it’s like the world is having a hard time waking up. It is beautiful. Trying to capture fog in a picture is hard (especially for a novice photographer like me). Fog is fleeting and sneaks away before you can get a handle of it. In the blink of an eye, it is gone completely, broken apart by the resilient sun. Enjoy my attempts to capture it.
It’s been a while.
I have an excuse! A really cute excuse.
By far the best thing I have ever baked. Yet, he has a tendency to keep me from baking especially now that he is on the move.
But occasionally the stars align, baby is content in his jumper…
…I have energy leftover after work, I remembered to go grocery shopping, and the house is clean. Then, wonderful things can happen.
I can’t wait to share these moments with you again soon.
Hello All!
Yes! I’m still here and I hope you are too. I have been very busy and preoccupied this summer. Here’s why:
First, I developed a very unhealthy addiction to this show. Yeah, I pretty much just laid in bed until I watched all four seasons…I guess I will have to be a normal human being now (or at least until March when season five starts).
Luckily, I finished being a couch potato just in time to pack up my teeny apartment and move us into a larger one. Now I am learning the quirks of a new kitchen and still trying to get everything situated. Almost there!
Also, it. has. been. so. hot!!! For those of you that don’t know, I live in Texas, which is rather unfortunate May-September as my arch nemesis is summer heat. This summer has been particularly bad since we are in the midst of a horrible drought combined with record-high temperatures and waaaay too many days above 100 degrees. The result, despite the beautiful bounty of summer produce, I can’t get inspired. My brain has melted down to sludge and my body is constantly trying to recover from having to be outside for greater that five minutes at a time. I have decided my stock is meant to live in Northern climates with overcast skies and hearty stews bubbling on the stove.
Even though I wish I could hibernate, I still have to work, of course, and I am fortunate to have an awesome job. I make pastries for a living, most definitely the coolest thing I have ever done, but it isn’t all sugar plums and gum drops either. I get burned, cut, bruised, dirty, pushed around, and very very tired. Usually this doesn’t faze me one bit and am eager to get home, bake some more, and share great treats with you here. That was until my life collided with these fellas:
A few of my French Macarons. Pictured: my personal creation, pumpkin spice (yeah...I know it's too early, but the customers are already demanding pumpkin stuff. I guess they want summer to end too), and pomegranate.
French Macarons. Bon Appetit, The Houston Chronicle, and a multitude of blogs and cookbooks have deemed these ethereal meringues sandwiched with a variety of jams, ganaches, and buttercreams as the new cupcake, and they weren’t joking. Folks can’t get enough of these things and I somehow am at the forefront of this new craze. To be honest, I am more of a chocolate chip cookie gal myself and have always said that “macarons are a waste of calories”. I just don’t “get” them. After making thousands of them in over 15 different flavors, I can’t say I have been convinced, but I am now an expert in all things macaron. To top it all off, they were on sale this week! I have been doing nothing other than mixing, piping, baking, and filling macarons. I have had three dreams (or maybe nightmares) about them.
Needless to say, after the macaron festival at work and the depressing heat, I haven’t had much gumption for cranking up the oven and whipping out the sugar at home. It will pass…I promise.
Finally, I have been asked to make the wedding cake for my best friend’s wedding in November. I am honored, excited, and nervous to have my first wedding cake under my belt and understandably, have been baking a lot of samples to get the cake just right. More updates soon!
One of my favorite pictures of me and my friend, Tammy, from 2003.
My latest cake and buttercream test run. It is going to be simple and elegant, just like the bride!
So, little blogging doesn’t mean a lack of baking, but I promise I will be back very soon with fresh inspiration…I think I might have felt a breeze this morning!
fête 